1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to merchandising aids, and relates more particularly to the manner and means by which a sign holder is secured to a merchandising shelf to highlight certain information about a particular product or group of products carried by the shelf at a given location.
2. Description of the Related Art
Shelves with “C-channels” along the front edge are commonly found in merchandise outlets such as supermarkets, pharmacies and the like, the C-channel being formed with spaced upper and lower opposed lips to provide a convenient means for mounting many different kinds of fit-in articles, such as labels, signs or sign holder which provide information relating to the merchandise displayed on the shelf. While adhesive-backed labels can be secured directly to such a surface, removing such adhesive-backed labels is time consuming and difficult, leaving an unsightly residue build-up which is resistant to cleaning. Generally, non-adhesive paper or plastic labels are preferred since they can easily be replaced if they become damaged or the product information changes. Therefore, label holders have been provided which commonly have a back or body panel attached in some fashion to the supporting surface, with a transparent cover member flexibly secured along one mating edge to the body panel to define a pocket between the front surface of the body panel and the rear surface of the cover member for removable reception of one or more such information-containing labels.
Label holders are generally provided in elongated sections, perhaps 4′ or more in width, and may be secured by adhesive strips or the like to any supporting surface such as the side of a shelving or warehouse unit. However, most applications for such label holders are directly on the front flange or in the C-channel of the front edge of a product display shelf. Various prior art embodiments of such label holders can be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,713,899, 5,458,307, 5,488,793, 5,515,632, 5,682,698, 5,899,011 and 6,105,295, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein in their entireties by reference.
Oftentimes, in addition to the information provided by the product labels, it is desired to highlight certain information about a particular product or group of products by displaying an enlarged “flag” or sign on the shelf, depending from the portion of the shelf carrying such products, or extending into the aisle at such a location. Different forms of “sign holders” are also well known in the merchandising art, examples of which can be seen in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,793, as well as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,485,575, 4,531,313, 4,625,441, 4,704,813, 4,917,342, 4,995,182, 5,682,698, and 6,163,996, the disclosures of which are also incorporated herein in their entireties by reference.
Separate sign holders can simply be positioned on the shelf itself, or juxtaposed to the shelf in the aisle. Yet, such an arrangement may not be stable, can waste valuable product display space, and can even cause damage to consumers. For that reason, as seen in some of the aforementioned patents, such sign holders may be designed to be supported partially or entirely in the same C-channels as the label holders.
While constructions of this nature are convenient for many applications, significant difficulties are encountered when it is necessary to insert new labels or to remove or replace labels already carried in the underlying label holder. In order to access the label holder pocket, any and all sign holders secured in front of and, therefore, overlying the label holder must first be removed, and subsequently replaced. This is time consuming, labor intensive, and obviously inefficient, particularly when using elongated label holders that may have multiple sign holders engaged along their length.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,112 issued May 27, 2003 (the '112 patent), the subject matter of which is also incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, provides a combination label/sign holder wherein the sign holders are carried by, and move with, the cover member and do not interfere with access to the label holder pocket so that labels can be selectively inserted and removed from the label holder pocket without removing any of the sign holders associated with related products. More specifically, in the '112 patent, the front surface of the cover member of the label holder is provided with a pair of sign holder-receiving lip members which can snappingly receive edge portions of a resilient plastic or metal sign holder such as seen in aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,793, or the engaging portions of a depending sign holder of the type seen in aforementioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,682,698 (the '698 patent) and 6,163,996 (the '996 patent), or other such commercially available sign holders. The combination label/sign holder of the '112 patent also includes a locking construction to secure paper or the like labels in the pocket, with a ledge or other finger-engaging element adapted to facilitate opening the label holder for insertion or removal of labels from the pocket as seen particularly in aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,632.
Some merchandising shelves do not have integral C-channels and have only a downwardly depending or downwardly and forwardly angled front edge or lip terminating in a rearwardly-directed lower flange. Attachment of a label holder or a combination label/sign holder to a merchandise shelf devoid of an integral C-channel is problematic. While label or label/sign holders can be adhesively secured to the depending lip on shelves of this nature, moving or replacing such elements, as with the adhesively-backed labels themselves, is difficult, time consuming and leaves an unsightly residue that is resistant to cleaning. Attempts to avoid the adhesive attachment with various elements fixing the lower portion of the label holder to or around the rearwardly extending flange on the bottom of the shelf have been generally unsuccessful because they cannot retain the body panel in position against the front edge of the shelf when the cover member is tipped forwardly to insert or remove a label from the pocket. Pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/222,775 filed Aug. 19, 2002 (the '775 application), the subject matter of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, discloses several embodiments of a label holder and an adaptor therefore designed to facilitate attachment of same to a merchandise shelf devoid of a C-channel, and provisional U.S. application Ser. No. 60/411,407 filed Sep. 18, 2002 (the '407 application), the subject matter of which is also incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, discloses a similar label holder wherein the “adaptor” portion is actually a pierceable, thin-film element integral with the body panel of the label holder.
One problem associated, particularly with sign holders designed to carry a “flag” or sign displaying special information to the consumer such as identifying a “sale” item or the like, whether mounted directly in a C-channel, or the sign holder portion of a combination label and sign holder such as seen in the '112 patent, is the possibility that such devices can be damaged or even become dislodged from their support mechanism when an item is removed from a shelf juxtaposed to the sign holder. This is particularly true of a sign holder such as seen in the aforementioned '698 patent wherein a significant portion of the sign holder depends downwardly to a level below the C-channel or front flange of a shelf where it may be engaged by a consumer reaching for a product on a lower shelf, or removing the product from the shelf. Sign holders are available in which a small connecting section of a flexible or resilient polymer such as polyvinyl chloride is used to secure the same to a support mechanism to provide some resilience to the sign holder, minimizing the likelihood of damage and/or disengagement of the sign holder from its support. However, no product is currently available that provides such flexibility and, additionally, includes a supporting mechanism having the versatility to be either engaged in the pocket formed between the main body member and the transparent cover of a label holder or, alternatively, directly supported in a C-channel or the sign holder portion of a combination label/sign holder such as seen in the '112 patent. Heretofore, therefore, it has been necessary to stock a significant variety of sign holders to provide for diverse applications.